Bioprinting is a multidisciplinary technology that requires integration of cell biology, material science and engineering knowledge. Hydrogels can be used in extrusion-based 3D bioprinting in order to obtain structures for growing cell cultures in a more physiological ways in terms of extracellular matrix components, stiffness, compartmentalization of co-culture.

In our laboratories, we focused our work on printing vascularized structures based on biological hydrogels or on a mix of synthetic and biological molecules, for cell lines or patient-derived cells to perform drug tests in a biomimetic microenvironment. We used extrusion based bioprinting, one of the most cell-friendly 3D printing technique, in order to be able to print cell-laden hydrogels.

                                                              3D printed vascularized structures

Another issue is the development of Smart multifunctional device for cell culture.

The environment of a cell culture is very important to ensure that we are using a reliable model. Furthermore, it is important that the researcher can use and customize the tools for cell cultures and for their analysis based on the most appropriate screening. Using the additive manufacturing polymer technologies, the goal is to create a customizable support for cell cultures, with biocompatible materials that can be printed alone or in combination, to give the support so that it has features suitable for different needs , such as an area where cells may or may not adhere or with integrated microfluidic channels for connecting several wells. The ultimate goal is to engineer intelligent tools that can help the, so that he can test different conditions in parallel automatically, without the need for expensive manual work.

                                                                  3D printed device for drug screening

Contact information

Francesca Frascella
Tel. +39 011 090 7412
francesca.frascella@polito.it

Ignazio Roppolo
Tel. +39 011 090 7412
ignazio.roppolo@polito.it

Annalisa Chiappone
Tel. +39 011 090 7412
annalisa.chiappone@polito.it